The R&D Challenge: Tackling the Infrastructure Gap

The R&D
Challenge: Tackling the Infrastructure Gap

By Michael Lercel, director
of Nanodefectivity and Metrology, SEMATECH

Over
the past decade, the structural dynamics of the semiconductor industry have
changed significantly — becoming less vertically integrated and more segmented.
Increased globalization and growth in demand, driven by a cycle of continuous
improvements in technology have contributed to the emergence of specialization
along the value chain. Dividing the industry into segmented subsets to meet
specific needs has created new visibility, coordination and affordability
challenges.

Accordingly,
the semiconductor supply chain — including component manufacturers, ODMs,
distributors, OEMs, and system integrators — is becoming more complex, costly
and vulnerable. While faced with difficult technology and investment choices,
there is now increased pressure on the component-level supply chain to
continuously adapt to changing technology requirements and cope with larger and
larger investments in R&D.

Industry
Challenges: Key Stakeholders

Source: SEMATECH, 2013

The Affordability
Challenge

As
the semiconductor industry scales to nodes below 20 nm, the key barrier
for supply chain R&D is the lack of infrastructure needed to test parts and
materials, and characterization equipment to diagnose defects and provide data
to develop better products.

In
addition, strict requirements are being put on equipment and material suppliers
to address technical challenges, which are affecting progress in next-generation
lithography techniques, new materials and processes for sub-20 nm
manufacturing, and the 450mm wafer integration. In an effort to pursue oncoming
disruptive innovations, the semiconductor community will need to take a
collaborative approach and adopt a multi-lateral model where different
companies collaboratively develop precompetitive technologies.

No
one solution can bridge the R&D infrastructure gap. The future of industry
innovation and new technology introduction demands a holistic approach that
addresses all facets of R&D including strategy, process and organization, and
funding. A fundamental role of a new
collaborative model is efficient coordination across the supply chain to share
resources, cost and risk.

Shared
resource competency centers can provide improved infrastructure by integrating
capabilities and activities to eliminate unnecessary duplication of research
efforts. Participants gain immediate access to new technologies and markets, roadmaps,
and shared resources, and faster cycles of learning for developing new
products, while maximizing value from R&D spending.

Opportunities to
Close the Gap

In
order to prepare for the technical challenges and major industry transitions
that will consume the industry’s resources over the next decade, we must
address the absence of sufficient and reliable infrastructure funding.

How
do we, as an industry, plan in a way so that the rate of change is affordable
and delivers the needed benefits on time? How can we manage risk at an acceptable
level?

While
there are no simple answers, industry conferences and technology forums that bring
together manufacturers, suppliers, developers, academia and research consortia to
share knowledge and make informed decisions are necessary now more than ever.

During
SEMICON West 2013 (www.semiconwest.org),
SEMATECH will continue the dialog between IDMs, OEMs, and the supply chain
through series of presentations and workshops focused on R&D challenges and
closing key infrastructure technology gaps. Register for SEMICON West at no
charge through May 10: www.semiconwest.org/register.

On
July 10, SEMATECH CEO Dan Armbrust will be participating in SEMI’s executive R&D
Panel, “A Conversation on the Future of
Semiconductor Technology” at SEMICON West(register for
SEMICON West at no charge until May 10 here:www.semiconwest.org/register). In
addition, SEMATECH is co-hosting a TechXPOT session on “Nanodefects: An Emerging Challenge.” Also on July 10, an
invitation-only workshop hosted jointly by SEMI and SEMATECH will investigate
trends in supply chain R&D and explore collaborative models that will
enable cost-effective innovation. To close out the week, an open workshop
hosted by SEMATECH’s Nanodefect Center will be held on July 11 to emphasize
defectivity issues and infrastructure gaps in liquid systems and liquid
filtration.